Monday, March 17, 2014

Craft Daft -- Sock Monster Edition

The picture below was once my Whatsapp profile picture for quite some time. It often invited lots of questions like:
"What's that you're holding?"
"Why are you holding socks to your face?"
"Are those socks?"
"What are you up to this time?"

So guess what I was doing with these socks a while back?

After my last arty farty session of acrylic painting at my bimbo sister Gera's place, I was itching for another arty farty weekend. It so happened that bimbo Zanne and Gera had planned to do some sock craft one Saturday and invited me along. I had wanted to paint but seeing how enthusiastic they were about sock craft, I started googling "sock craft" which got me excited too!

Gera is my most artistic and creative friend ever and since she was able to guide a total noob in acrylic painting, I felt very safe to be guided by her in sock craft. I am but a craft daft.

I saw so many cute sock animal that I wondered if I should make a puppy dog, an innocent bunny, a funky monkey or a chubby owl. I even thought of making a cat but felt that the ears could be too much work. I'm after all, a very lazy person and wanted something simple to make.

Perhaps if I were that skilled, I could make a Totoro! The ears seemed easy peasy to form from socks. However when I thought of the extra felt material I needed for the features, I decided to forgo that. I wanted something really simple from just socks and thread.

We started our day with a trip to Daiso to get our craft materials.
[Aside: I should have worn my glasses too!]

The materials we used for our sock toy:
- a pair of socks (we would need both for 1 toy)
- special stuffing for soft toys (cotton wool would do too)
- buttons, felt cloth, yarn and any other material for the features
- needle and thread to sew
- a pair of scissors

Bimbos being bimbos, we had to pose with our soft furry little socks before we transformed them into something amazing!

To make the legs, we cut the bottom of the sock into 2.

Like this...

After that, we sewed the inner part of the legs to close the opening, one leg at a time.

The socks that we bought from Daiso were really soft and fluffy that no matter what colour thread we used, the stitches were not visible at all. Really good for craft daft like me.

Zanne was appalled at my slow speed.

After sewing, we got cute legs like this.

After stuffing the legs and body with enough stuffing, we sewed the opening at the top to close it up. While sewing the opening, we sewed the shape of the ears too.

Making the ears was a little tricky for all of us as we still did not know what creature we were making at that time. I had wanted to sew pointy cat ears but no matter how I stitched, I ended up with rounded edges.

After stitching the head close, we started to sew or glue the facial features. Being very random people, we were still clueless about the creature we were making. However as we worked around with the materials we bought, we slowly came up with our creatures. With the rounded ears, I decided that I would make a hybrid monster mouse. Gera and Zanne made long pointy ears and decided theirs would be monsters.

After sewing the facial features, we used the other pair of socks to make the arms. The arms were done in a similar fashion as the legs, only that we had to cut those cloth out, stuff them and sew them onto the body.

This other sock could also be used as spare materials for the ear parts or any other parts. It all depended on how we wanted our toy to look like.

Presenting Brunnie the monster (by Gera), Prinkie the monster (by Zanne) and Dinkie the Mousasaurus (by Jo). Gera helped to christened my monster "Mousasaurus" for she felt that it looked like a monster mouse-- a lab experiment gone wrong resulting in a mutated lab rat.

Our monster sock toys are branded with our initials on their butts and leg.

Presenting Dinkie with his hat on and off.

Presenting Prinkie also with hat on and off. The reason why Zanne and my monsters had hats was because we could not bear to see the extra bits of socks go to waste.

Zanne was really glad that she made Prinkie with such long arms. It was fun to swing him around with arms like that.

Darn... I should have made long arms for Dinkie too. There was nothing I could do except to hug him.

Gera with Brunnie. It is a he. It is a she. Well, we were all confused by that ribbon too.

You could tell how happy we were with our finished products!

Gera's mum was so cute to help us snap a picture of this. She preferred our paintings to these sock toys. Hahaha... Only quirky people like us would appreciate quirky ugly toys like the ones we made.

When the humans weren't around, our monsters enjoyed chilling on the sofa.

Dinkie the Mousasaurus was squeaking and talking to Mickey Mouse during dinner.

Dinkie had been sitting on the side of my bed and sometimes hidden in my wardrobe. Soon, I realised that I was treating him too unkindly. Dinkie badly needed a new home. I thought of gifting one of my pal pal's daughter with Dinkie as she is the quirky kind who would appreciate such quirky toy. However, I was worried that upon presenting her with the toy, there would be awkward silence followed by the cawing of crows flying across. Hence, I decided to sound her out first. I was ecstatic when she graciously accepted my gift over Whatsapp. Dinkie would have a new home!

Disclaimer: All photos that day were taken using mine and Gera's handphone camera and hence the vertical grains, dimness and sometimes overly edited blurry effect which looked better on our phones than when blown up onto the computer.

Ongoing Giveaway

I'm having a 2nd blog giveaway and I invite all of you to check it out. It is opened internationally so feel free to participate if you're interested. Boys and men are welcome to participate to try your hand at winning something for your significant other, sister or female friends!

For standardization and to enter this giveaway, please follow the instructions and "template" so as to make the counting of your points easier. Thank you to all those who followed the template for it really made my job of counting your points more easily!

For those who have enetered via Rafflecopter, I'm so sorry that you have to re-enter as I'm not able to retrieve any detail of the entries. Please re-enter by commenting under your comment, following the "template" I've included. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.
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52 comments:

AW these are adorable! I bet kids would love these designs, and the process didn't look too hard to copy. Maybe if you get really good, you can make that bunny and owl that you had your eye on. Thank you for your thoughtful comment on my post--it means a lot to me when people take the time to read and sincerely share their thoughts. I hope that you'll visit again when I post some lighter material as well.

Thank you for visiting back and for your lovely comment, Brittney. I will try making a bunny or a cat the next time I didn't have to pretend that I was making a monster due to some daft hands.

Sure thing, I would definitely visit your blog back. In fact, your blog was one of those I tried following vie GFC after I realised that the reading list on my blog dashboard is back. Unfortunately, there is some error on GFC currently. I will visit your blog soon and follow via bloglovin if you have that! Hope to see you around more often too!

omigosh Joooooo! This post was hilarious to read. I absolutely love how you went through so much searching until finally deciding on a "monster"... haha, I am also very rusty with my sewing skills and would have opted for a monster, too! Your fuzzy sock monster looks pretty darn great, though! So congrats to you for a successful craft project. :D

My post will never be as hilarious as yours, Ali! I'm those kind who can't even mend a tear or am too lazy to sew a dropped button. Hence, I'm surprised that these sock craft isn't difficult to make at all. Even the most difficult part of joining the arms to the body was surprisingly easy to sew. No stitches could be seen at all as the socks were fluffy which covered them up.

Jo, you all have been soooo creative and good! Wish I was able to sew a little sock monster too! But you know, Im little lazy! I bet u had lots of fun, u and ur friends are so adorable! Dinkie is too cute, Im sure your pal's daughter will play a lot with him!:) Wish u a wonderful week ahead, hope u are doing well! Kisses! xo

Laziness always gets to all of us. I'm a pretty lazy person too. I'm those kind who can't even mend a tear or am too lazy to sew a dropped button. Hence, I'm surprised that these sock craft isn't difficult to make at all. Even the most difficult part of joining the arms to the body was surprisingly easy to sew. No stitches could be seen at all as the socks were fluffy which covered them up.

I haven't met my gap pal yet. We were supposed to meet soon. Let's see if Dinkie would be loved. Hehehe.

Ooooommmggg those sock animals are so cute!! Your friend's daughter will have fun with Dinkie. My favourite is Brunnie. She looks so silly and confused with those teeth hahahha. I have a stuffed bunny that I adore at home, her name is Jellycat (yea her name has the word Cat in it even though she's a bunny) and I like to picture her as a silly dumb bunny!

I replied your 2nd comment below as soon as I approved them and now I'm here to reply to this. Hahaha... Your Jellycat sounds like a fascinating toy! I like weird things with weird names. Do share how she looks like next time on your blog or something. And Yay! So glad we're acquainted on Instagram now. I've long followed you on GFC though it is having a bit of a problem now. Keeps having error.

Haha I adore this post! Each one of them is so sweet and cute. I love that the mistakes become "monsters"--perhaps some sort of social commentary there :) And, yes, you should have worn your glasses. What fun you and your bimbo friends have. So jealous!

I like the fact that mistakes might not be mistakes at times and that for certain circumstances, it is through mistakes that wonderful creations are born. Thank you, Rick. You're one of those who likes Specky Jo.

Haha adorable socks! Such a cute project :)Also, thanks for the thoughtful comments you've left me!I just turned 20 last month, but most of my friends are older. Still, it's probably this small town mentality where I live that causes most of them to start their own families even though they're still young (about 22 and 23).

I didn't know you live in a small town. I just watched a whole series about life in a small town and yes, it seems like people generally start families earlier. I hope you manage to go where your heart tells you to. =)

Hi Jo, your sock creation is so cute! Those socks dont look very big but it fluffed up once you stuffed it~ How creative, I love crafts as well and might try it out.. only problem would be who to gift it to after as my friends do not have kids yet and if I give it to my dog he would probably end up eating the ears and buttons haha How long did it take for you to complete the doll?

Thank you for hosting the giveaway, I wont be joining but I have followed you on Bloglovin (: Hope to interact more with you as well, and have a good week ahead!

You can keep your creations for your own collection! I love the process of making such stuff too and thought that it would be great to keep my creations. However, I simply do not have enough space in my room to keep too many things and I thought it would be lovely to gift them. We did the dolls from late afternoon till night. You could make one for your dog without the buttons. just sew on the features with thread.

Thanx for following me on bloglovin. Yes, let's keep in touch. I would do the same too when I next visit your blog or I might have already done it, I'm not sure. I just know that I'd wanted to follow a few blogs on GFC after I realised that the reading list on my blog dashboard is back. Unfortunately, there is some error on GFC currently.

Hello sweets. A quick note to you. I have comments moderation so when you left this comment, I haven't approved all the previous comments yet and I guess that's why you weren't able to see. Hehehe... Will reply more soon. ^_^

Thanks for your wonderful comment Jo, you are the sweetest! It meant a lot to me. I am so impressed by this sock toys, they are adorable and you did the most splendid job, its too too cute, and a great way to get friends together for an arty crafty activity and afternoon of fun. All the inspiration ideas were delightful as well. Your sock monsters are darling!!! Have a great week doll!

Okay, I'll start off by giving thanks for your kind, kind comment! Sincerity goes a long way, eh! It's wonderful to surrounded by such supportive ladies :) And these sock creatures are the cutest things ever and such a great idea! I've been collecting all the left over stuffing from my dog's toys, and, well, this seems to be the perfect way to reuse it all - my pup would love a sock animal to play with! Haha Great job, hon!

Thank you for visiting and commenting, Samantha. I hope you manage to gather all the leftovers and create a cute little toy for your doggie! Would love to keep in touch with you and see you around more often!

Come to think of it, my Dinkie has got no mouth at all! It's like Hello Kitty. Hehehe... Yeah, we are a bunch of oldies that just don't look our age, especially my bimbo sisters when they have no make up on. Zanne said to us before that once she did not wear make up to work and was dressed in T shirt and jeans, some people who saw her thought she was 15!

Aww these are all so cute! This looks like a good rainy day activity, especially if you have kids. All of yours came out really nice! It would take me forever to make one though - I'm a horrible seamstress :P

I'm bad at sewing too. I'm those kind who can't even mend a tear or am too lazy to sew a dropped button. Hence, I'm surprised that these sock craft isn't difficult to make at all. Definitely a good rainy day stay-home activity!

Frankenstein-ish sock monsters! I would never be able to bring myself to cut up such fluffy socks! (I'm serious though, I can't even manage to cut up my hole-y socks to make sock buns!)Did you cut round ears or triangular ears? (But then again, the stuffing would probably also make the ears rounder) Dinkie didn't come out too bad though! I feel like this would be fun for kids, since they can draw their own stuffed animals, and then the adults can sew it based off their children's designs!

I get that sometimes too. My parents love to cut up our old clothes as rags but I can't bear to cut them even though I don't wear them any more. I just like to see them intact. I cut wide triangular but not as pointy as my friends' coz I thought I would make a monster cat. You're right that the stuffing made them round. If any kid drew their stuffed animals and have me to sew them, he/she would be the most upset kid ever. =D

I love reading sincere comments and hearing your voice. While blatant self promotion of blogs and follow for follow requests are not advisable, I would love if you leave a mark here with a trackback link so that I could connect with you. I reply to comments here or on your blog so don't forget to check back on replies! =)

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